The Adventures of a Muggle Born Witch
by ultimatefreakofnature
Summary: Cassie receives a letter inviting her to Hogwarts. She doesn't know much about it, but wants to go. The adventures and friends are unforgettable. I'm thinking of making a bunch of mini-stories for this book. Not a lot of humor, but it will be there. Slight AU/cannon. Rated T just to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! This will be my first non-oneshot fanfiction. I hope to make it many chapters in this story. Disclaimer- sadly, I do not own Harry Potter, or Hogwarts. I do own some of the characters that I have made up. J. is awesome! Enjoy my fanfiction!**

Two weeks after school had let out, I got a letter. I was sitting at the dining room table, eating pancakes that my mom had made the day before, when a letter shot through the window and smacked me in the face. I opened it and . . . wait, before I go on, I should probably introduce myself.

My name is Cassandra Bethany Stone, but everyone just calls me Cassie. I am an eleven year old girl who has shoulder length brown hair and hazel eyes. My bad eyesight required me to wear glasses, but I don't mind. I am average height for my age, and I like it that way. I'm not very athletic, or popular, but I am a huge book lover. I've read books on magic, on science, on history, and even a few chapters of my dad's old college textbooks. Being in all honors is great, but I'm always a target for bullies. Anyway, back to my suddenly exciting breakfast.

I looked the letter over, feeling the weight of it. On the front in green ink was:

Ms. C. B. Stone

Top floor, first door on the right

362 Cumberly Lane

London

England

That was weird. Whoever sent this knew exactly where I slept. Shrugging, I flipped it over, and looked at the wax that sealed the letter closed. It looked somewhat like a crest with a lion, a raven a badger, and a snake. Peeling back the wax, I pulled out the first piece of parchment (who still used that?) and began reading the paper written once again, in green ink.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmistress: Professor McGonagall

Dear Ms. Cassandra, We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list if all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. We await your owl no later than July 31. Yours sincerely,

_Minerva McGonagall_

Headmistress

After reading the letter, my mind began to fill with questions. One of them stuck out the most. They awaited my owl? I looked up and almost screamed. Sitting in front of me was a barn owl that had begun to eat my breakfast. It glanced up at me when I released a whimper, but then went back to eating my pancakes. So that was what they meant by owl. I quickly pulled out the next sheet of parchment and began to skim it quickly.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

UNIFORM

First-year students will require:

Three sets of plain work robes (black)

One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupils' should carry name tags

COURSE BOOKS

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

_The Standard Book of Spells (Grade One) _by Miranda Goshawk _A History of Magic _by Bathilda Bagshot _Magical Theory_ by Adalbert Waffling _A Beginners Guide to Transfiguration _by Emeric Switch _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi _by Phyllida Spore _Magical Draughts and Potions _by Arsenius Jigger _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them _by Newt Scamander _The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection _by Quentin Trimble

OTHER EQUIPMENT

1 wand 1 cauldron (Pewter standard size 2) 1 set of glass or crystal phials 1 telescope 1 set brass scales

Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS

I starred at the letter for a moment, and could have sworn that my head had burst from all the new questions that had come from reading the paper. Where was I supposed to get all of this? I was sure that you couldn't buy a wand from just anywhere. I ran to my parents' room where they were both sleeping in.

"Mom! Dad! Get up!" I said loudly enough to wake them up. They grumbled about how it was too early, and how I had no respect for their personal space, but they sat up and looked at me. I took a deep breath, and then told them about the letter and everything on it. After I finished, they both starred at me. My father was the one who broke the silence.

"Cassie, where is this letter?" he asked. I handed him the crumpled up letter, and he quickly skimmed it then handed it to my mother. She read it, and then they gave each other an exasperated look. When they didn't say anything, I asked them.

"What does it mean?"

"Well," began my mother, "a few months ago, your father and I received a letter similar to this. It said that you had magical powers, and would soon be asked to go to this school. We thought it was just a joke . . ." she said. I nodded, seeing as how they could see it as a joke. As she handed it back to me, a smaller piece of paper fluttered to the floor. I picked it up, and read it out loud.

"Cassie and parents, you have a few weeks to gather your daughters' school supplies. Go to the Leaky Cauldron, and ask to see the back room. The bartender will help you get to Diagon Alley. Go to Gringotts bank first, and get your money. I wish you luck at your new school, signed the Headmistress." I finished reading the letter, and looked at my parents.

"**We need to write back to this school and tell them that you are going. Then we need to get your school supplies." said my father. Mom nodded, and I clapped in glee. I didn't know what this school would be like, but I couldn't wait to go.**

**Well, what do you think? I am going to try to get some more chapter sin soon. Please review and tell me what you liked/disliked. In case you didn't catch on, Cassie is muggle born. I don't know how Hermione got her things for Hogwarts, but this is my thoughts on the matter. Up next: shopping in Diagon Alley!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey people, betterthanyoubyfar here. Sorry about the hold up. Wi-fi wasn't working very well. Anywho, here is the next chapter. Tell me what you think! Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters you recognize, or any of the places. Harry Potter and Hogwarts belong to J. .**

Three weeks after receiving my invite to Hogwarts, my mom and I went looking for the Leaky Cauldron. They had been using the computer to look for directions, and had finally found it. We drove to the pub and walked in. the moment I stepped inside, I felt a shiver run through my body. Later I realized that it was magic that I had felt.

We walked up to the bartender, and asked to see the back room. He looked at me and smiled, but unlike most people, his smile was a tad bit on the creepy side, as he was missing most of his teeth. He led us through a side door, and it led to . . . a brick wall. I felt a little disappointed, but then the bartender, Tom, pulled out a wand, and tapped the wall. I felt that now familiar tingle, and knew that I had just witnessed magic.

The bricks began to move apart, until they created a doorway. On the other side was Diagon Alley. I led the way as we stepped through the arch, and I couldn't help thinking that this was definitely a magic strip mall. I remembered what the second letter said, about looking for Gringotts bank, so we asked for directions. A wizard in a long robe and pointy hat pointed down the street at a lopsided building. We stepped inside, and walked up to a goblin (I recognized them from books).

He looked up from the paper work that he had been doing, and glared at us. He then said, "Do you have a key?" I took the key that had been in the envelope and handed it to him. He took it, and then hopped off the stool he had been sitting on. We followed him to a set of double doors that probably led to the vaults. On the other side of the doors was a set of railway tracks, and on top of that was a rickety old mining cart. We climbed in, and then we were off.

I had never gotten sick on roller-coasters, but the speed we were going combined with the fact that the cart clanked and clattered, didn't help. Eventually, we arrived at a large door with the number 932 embedded in the metal. Using my key, the small goblin opened the door. Inside was the biggest pile of gold, silver, and bronze coins that I had ever seen. The gold coins were probably worth a lot, so I grabbed ten gold coins, fifteen silver, and twenty bronze.

When we left the bank with my money, we walked to the book store just down the road. Inside we found bookshelves filled to bursting with books. Some were even floating around! We searched for the titles that were on my list, and paid for them, along with a book titled _Magic for the Muggle-Born _by Sean Hinginbottom. After the book store, we went looking for my cauldron. After buying it, we searched for my other stuff. After buying most of my equipment, we stopped to eat lunch at a restaurant called _Dragon's Heart_. We really hoped that we weren't eating dragon.

While we ate, I looked at the shopping list. All that we needed to buy now was an owl, or a cat, or a toad, plus my clothes and wand. When we were done eating, my mom decided to go shopping for the pet shop. "We need to see what the choices are, Cassie," she told me.

Walking into the Owl Emporium was like walking into a zoo. The stench was almost unbearable, and the noise made my ears hurt. A sign on the desk read _Gone to lunch. Back in 15._ I looked around at all the different animals. There were rats and mice running on little exercise wheels in small metal cages. The toads were in marshy tanks, and the cats lounged on any available surface. I felt like I was being watched, so I looked up. Starring at me was a black screech owl. His yellow eyes were searching me, like a cat would a mouse. I shivered and looked away.

A small bell rang in the back of the shop, and all the animals went quiet. A small woman appeared from behind a curtain and smiled up at us. She stepped up to a stool, and then asked what we came here for.

"My daughter was assigned to bring a pet too her new school, and we came to look here," said my mom. The little lady nodded, and then looked at me.

"Well, what would ya like? I have cats, mice, rats, toads, and of course, owls." I looked around, thinking of what I wanted. My dad was allergic to cats, so that ruled them out. Toads were always getting lost, and rats freaked me out. The mice looked at me evilly, so I crossed them off the list.

"I want an owl. Could I see that black one above you?" I asked her. She starred at me with wide eyes when I asked for the black screech, but got him down none the less. He may have looked evil, but he looked pretty cool, too. As I admired him, I listened to my mom and the store lady debate prices.

"I must warn ya, miss. He's and evil one, 'e is. Nearly bit me finger off just yesterday. But I'll give him to ya for a galleon," she said. My mother handed over the gold coin, and we left the store with my new owl in hand. Well, technically in cage.

"We have three Galleons, nine Sickels, and twenty Knuts left. We need to buy your robes, and then get your wand, so let's go. I saw a robe shop a while ago, so let's go there," sighed my mother. She wasn't used to any of this magic stuff, and didn't really enjoy shopping. She left me at the robe shop, saying that she was going to go get some ice-cream. It had gotten hotter as the day grew longer. I stepped inside, leaving everything outside, hopping that no one would take them.

"I'll be just a moment, dearie," came a voice from farther in the shop. "Let me finish up with this young man." I followed the voice, arriving at a booth where a plump woman was measuring a pale blond boy. He had a sour expression on his face, and didn't look like a nice person. The plump woman finished measuring him, and then went through a door to get his robes.

"Hi," I said, trying to start a conversation with him. He looked at me, and then in a cold voice that wasn't nice at all, said hello back.

"So . . . are you going to Hogwarts?" I looked at him waiting to hear an answer, but before he could (if he was going to answer my question), the plump woman, Madam Malkins, came back carrying a set of black robes. The boy left, but whispered something to me that sounded vaguely like 'mudblood. I glared at him, but stepped onto the stool so Madam Malkins could measure me.

As she was doing so, the bell tinkled, and a red head walked in with a boy who must have been her older brother. She smiled up at me, and said brightly, "Hello! My name's Lily. What's yours?"

"I'm Cassandra. But all my friends call me Cassie. Are you going to Hogwarts?" I asked, finally thankful for a friendly person to talk to. She nodded and asked which house I wanted to be in. I told her that I didn't know what the houses were, and she nodded in understanding.

"You must be muggle-born then," she stated, then continued when I nodded. "That's OK. The four houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin." She said the last one with disgust, and I was about to ask why she said it that way, when Madam Malkins came back with my robes.

"Lily! Albus!" she exclaimed when she saw the siblings. "It seems like forever since I saw you two." She rushed to give them a hug, and I felt a twinge of jealousy. She hadn't greeted _me_ like that. Then I scolded myself. She didn't even know me, and Lily and her brother had probably come here before. After laughing when they said that they were here yesterday, Madam Malkins turned back to me and handed me my robes. I hopped off of the dressing stool, and looked out the front window to see if my mom was there. She wasn't, so I plopped into a chair beside Lily as she waited for her brother's fitting to be done, and pulled out _Magic for the Muggle-Born_ and began to read.

"Hey, Cassie? Do you want me to tell you about the different houses and stuff?" Lily asked after a few minutes. I closed my book, which hadn't been that interesting, and nodded, glad to be learning about my new school.

Lily pulled out a book titled _Hogwarts: A History _and showed me the page titled _Houses_. We sat there reading for fifteen minutes, in which time Albus had finished his fitting and left to find their mom. The bell rang, and my mother stepped in, looking flustered. I jumped up and gave her a hug.

'Oh, mom, this is my friend Lily. She was telling me all about Hogwarts." I said to her. Lily smiled and waved. Suddenly, a woman around my mom's age came in, and she looked almost exactly like Lily, but older.

"Oh, there you are! We've been looking everywhere for you, Lily." she scolded. "Where are my manners? My name is Ginny Potter." She said turning to face my mother. They shook hands as my mom introduced herself. "Well, Lily and I should get going. Her father has a job to do." As they left the shop, Lily passed me a slip of paper. On it was her phone number and address. We waved good-bye to each other.

"**Now all that's left on your list is your wand. So let's go get that." said my mom. I nodded, too excited to speak.**

**I couldn't find a good spot to stop this chapter, so I just kept on writing. The next chapter will probably be shorter, but up next: Ollivander's wand shop! Please review. P.S. I will not be doing disclaimers any more, since you obviously know that I am not J. .**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello! Here's the next chapter, as promised. Enjoy!**

As we walked to the wand shop, I thought of all the stuff that Lily had told me about wands. The one thing that shocked me the most was the fact that the _wand _chose the wizard, not the other way around. As we walked down the street to the only wand shop, I watched all the people passing us. They were all so different, but they all shared a common factor: they had magic.

We walked into the dimly lit wand shop, and a small bell rang in the back. A man appeared who looked to be in his eighties and smiled at us. He had a twinkle in his eyes, and wrinkle lines from smiling. His white heir stood on end like he had been electrocuted. When he spoke it was in a kind voice.

"I presume that you are here for a wand Ms. Stone?" he asked me. When I nodded, he flicked his wrist towards me and a tape measure floated over to me and began to measure parts of my body. As it did so, the man, most likely Mr. Ollivander, climbed a ladder and looked at the boxes stacked precariously on each other. He grabbed one from the bottom, and the tower swayed. After pulling the tape measure out of the air and putting it in his pocket, Mr. Ollivander took the wand out of the box, and handed it to me saying, "Willow, eleven inches, dragon's heartstring, and rather springy. Just give it a flick."

I did as he asked, and heard the sound of breaking wood. I looked behind me at the chair that had just collapsed, and gasped. Had _I _done that? Mr. Ollivander grabbed the wand out of my hand, and put it back in the box. He measured my nose, and then went to search for another wand. This time, the wand caused the light above us to go out. After fixing the light, the wand shop owner put the last try away. I tried three more wands before finding one that liked me. As I flicked the wand, I felt a warm glow go through my body.

"Excellent!" exclaimed M. Ollivander. "You were a hard one to please, Ms. Stone. Now this one is made from the wood of the famous Whomping Willow on the Hogwarts' grounds. Containing unicorn hair for the core, thirteen inches, and slightly springy. That will be thirteen galleons." Luckily my mom had gone back to Gringotts to get more money, so we paid the amount of money that was required, and left.

On the way home from our shopping trip, I viewed the things that I had bought. Besides my school supplies, I had gotten a quill that never ran out of ink, a notebook that never ran out of parchment, and can labeled 'Candy in a Can' from a shop called Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. My owl, which I had decided to name Archimedes (the name of the magician Merlin's owl's name), was fast asleep inside his cage. Merlin was actually one of my favorite books to read, and I didn't even know that he had been real.

By the time we got home, I was too excited to sleep. Even though the train to Hogwarts didn't leave for a few more weeks, I wanted to get some reading in. lily had let me borrow her _Hogwarts: A History _book, so I stayed up until midnight reading it. The weeks following my wait for Hogwarts consisted of training Archimedes, reading my textbooks, and starring at the calendar. I couldn't practice any of the spells I had learned, since we couldn't do magic outside of school, but I practiced the wand movements with a stick I found in the yard.

**And by the time that the Hogwarts train was ready to leave, I felt positive that I was ready.**

**Thanks for reading. I know that these first few chapters were kind of short, but when Cassie gets to Hogwarts, they will begin to get longer. This will probably be the last update for a while, as I am going to a week-long camp, but when I get back, I will try to give you three chapters. Any suggestions on the plot would be great. I have a small idea, but don't know how long I can make it last.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello people. Sorry for taking so long. My life isn't slow, even in the summer. I must battle dragons and save royalty . . . no not really. Wi-fi was going haywire again, and then the king of France needed saving, so it took me a while to upload this. Anyway here is the next chapter, and it's a long one. Hogwarts, here we come!**

The morning that I was destined to leave to Hogwarts, which I had now become an expert on after reading Lily's book, I had woken up at three and couldn't fall back asleep. So, after letting Archimedes out to hunt, I took inventory of my luggage. Everything had been packed for over a week now, and was set neatly in my suitcase. My train ticket had come a week before, by owl, and had been tacked up on my bathroom mirror. I pulled it off from where it hung and admired the gold script again. Archimedes flew back into my room with a shriek carrying a dead vole. We had become companions over the past few weeks, and he would now fly to my arm when I called. I sat on my bed as he perched on his cage. As I did every morning, I admired the way his wings shimmered in the weak rays from the sun.

After waiting for almost four hours, I ran down stairs, almost falling on my face in my haste. I needed to eat a good breakfast, as the train would be leaving at 11:00. I found the kitchen dark, so I turned on a light to find my parents standing there holding chocolate chip pancakes. They must have been up for about an hour, but didn't look tired, considering the fact that they had stayed up almost all night talking about my new school. I ate my delicious food quickly, and then ran back upstairs to get changed. I put my black owl in his cage, and then dragged everything out to the car. We had planned on leaving early so that we could live there on time. By the time we left, it was 9:00. Archimedes had not been looking forward to the drive, so he had screed and flapped his wings. Some of the neighbors even came out to see what the commotion had been about.

We spent the rest of the day traversing London, and the places that I wouldn't see for 9 months. By the time that 10:00 had rolled around, we were all tired from walking everywhere. I said goodbye to my parents at the entrance to the station, since they both had jobs to go to. My mom started crying, and wouldn't stop hugging me. Eventually my dad had to pry her away from me so that I wouldn't be late. Lily had promised to meet me at platform 9, so that's where I headed. I heard the howl of a cat and the screech of an owl, and knew that I had found the Potter's. Standing beside the platform was Lily's brother Albus, who was arguing with her other brother James, who I had met when I had gone and visited Lily. Their father was trying to break up the argument, but it looked like he was failing.

"Cassie! You made it!" I heard Lily call as she ran to envelope me in a hug. I hugged her back, after setting my things safely on the ground. She dragged me over to where there was a group of children around our age, and introduced me to them. They were all Lily's cousins, and were really nice. Ten minutes before 11:00, Mr. Potter gathered everyone together, and we ran in pairs of two at a solid brick wall. I was sure we would crash, but I appeared on the other side. Platform 9¾. It was even better than I had imagined. We put all of our things in the luggage compartment, and then went to find some seats. Most of us sat in the same compartment, but the older of us went to sit with friends.

We sat talking for a few minutes, until we felt the train's whistle blow. We hoped out of our seats to wave to the parents outside the train. As we rode out of the train station, we could hear people running up and down the aisles. We all stayed in our compartment, talking about our hopes for Hogwarts. Lily explained to me how the procedure would go when we got there, and how we would be going across the lake. At this point, her oldest brother James came in, saying that the trolley was coming. Everyone got all excited, and I didn't understand why, that is until it arrived at our door.

A plump witch opened our door and asked, "I there anything I can get you dearies?" we all jumped up, and began to buy things off of the cart. By the time we were done, I felt like we had bought half of the candy on the trolley.

"Ooh, Cassie try this," Lily said to me as she passed me a box. It was labeled Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Bean. I shrugged, and popped one in my mouth. Immediately I regretted it, because it tasted like liverwurst. I spit it out into a napkin, and glared at Lily as she laughed.

"What _was_ that? It tasted awful!" I complained. Lily had to catch her breath before answering.

"The box explains it all. James once got a boogie flavored one. He couldn't get the bean out fast enough." We laughed as a picture of her 14 year old brother wiping his tongue popped into our heads. As my new friends continued to eat, the day and its events finally caught up with me, and I nodded off.

I woke up to Lily shaking me. She was saying something about getting changed, and suddenly I was wide awake.

"We're almost at Hogwarts, so you need to get into your school robes. I'll take you to the bathroom so you can change." As we left, I could finally see how late it had gotten. The afternoon had seeped into twilight, and the sun had almost disappeared over the horizon. After I got changed, I followed the red-head back to our compartment. As I sat back down again, I tuned myself into the conversation.

Rose, who was two years older than me, turned to Albus and stated, "I don't think I'll be able to eat anything at the feast. I'm too stuffed with chocolate frogs and cauldron cakes." Albus nodded, saying the same thing. After they said this, I suddenly felt glad that I hadn't eaten anything other than a few beans and one frog. By the time the Hogwarts Express, the butterflies that I had had that morning had returned, but this time as an army.

"Firs' years, over 'ere. Follow me," I heard a voice called. I followed Lily and Hugo, her cousin, as they made their way to a giant of a man. Hugo had told me earlier that his name was Hagrid, and was really nice. We followed him through the forest, to what I assumed was the lake. When we arrived, there was a fleet of boats. Hagrid told us to climb in three at a time, and Lily, Hugo and I all climbed into a boat together. When every boat was filled, they moved into the water, and across the lake. As we emerged from the tree line, I could hear gasps behind me, and I looked up. In front of us was a huge castle. It was lit up, and looked extravagant. I had never seen anything cooler than this, and I had climbed the Eifel Tower!

We arrived at the castle gates, and climbed out of the boats. Ahead lay hundreds of steps that we had to climb. I heard a few groans, but knew that we would all make it. After climbing 296 steps, we arrived in the entrance hall. We stood there, drying off, as it had started to rain, and marveled at the pictures on the walls. Some didn't have anyone in them, but some looked to be overcrowded. Suddenly a witch appeared in front of us. She was short, but plump, and looked like she was well suited to be a mother.

"Welcome first years, to the school of witchcraft and wizardry. My name is Professor Winkle, and I teach Astronomy. I am also the Deputy Headmistress, and will be sorting you. Now, follow me," she said as she walked to the huge double doors. They opened, and she led us inside. We stepped in, and the smells and sights almost overpowered me. There were four tables stationed in a line, with all ages of students sitting at them. As we walked down the aisle between the middle two tables, I found my eyes looking up at the head table. The Headmistress, Professor McGonagall, and all the other professors were sitting there smiling down at us.

I was paying so much attention to the decorations that I wasn't listening to what Professor Winkle was saying, so I started listening.

". . . houses. Now, let the sorting commence!" when she said this, cheering erupted in the hall, coming from tall of the tables. The professor smiled and made a rumpled old hat appear on the stool in front of us. She then flicked out a long list of names and began to read them off. When a name was called, the student would step forward, and she would place the hat on their head. After a few seconds, the hat would call out one of the four houses, and that table would erupt into cheers. For instance, the name "Riddle, John" was read and he was placed into Slytherin. Name after name was called, until . . .

"Stone, Cassandra."

I took a deep breath, and then sat on the stool. The hat was placed on my head, and I could suddenly hear the hat's voice in my head.

"Hmmm, I can see courage, and wisdom. A need to please and a loyal friend. Well, it'll have to be . . . GRYFFINDOR!" I almost collapsed in relief, but stood and walked over to the table. People who I didn't even know were patting me on the back, and congratulating me. I couldn't help but feel that I had found another place to call home. I starred up at the Sorting Hat and waited for Lily's name to be called. When it was, she almost sprinted up to the hat. Before it was even set upon her head, the hat called out "GRYFFINDOR!" and we all cheered. I stood up and gave her a hug, and then we waited for Hugo to join us. He came to sit down after 9 more names were called, and had a relieved look on his face. After all the first years were sorted, Professor McGonagall stood up and welcomed us to another year at Hogwarts.

Welcome back to another great year at Hogwarts. To those who are new, I welcome you with open arms. And those who are leaving, we bid you a fond farewell and hope that you will enjoy your last year here. Now, let's eat!"

I turned to look at the table that had previously held nothing, and was amazed to find food piled high on silver platters. I saw roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops, pudding, corn . . . were those peppermint humbugs? I got a few of my favorites and dug in. as everyone ate, the hall was filled with laughter. As I was about to take another bite of the chocolate pudding that I had just served myself up, a head appeared in my food. I shrieked and fell of the bench. Lily looked down at me, and then helped me up.

"So sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I only meant to greet you," said the ghost. He was dressed in robes not seen since the middle ages, and a ruffled tunic with a high collar. He did look sorry, so I accepted his apology. Lily explained to me that there were ghosts' everywhere in Hogwarts. Nearly Headless Nick was one of the nicest. I suddenly looked back at him.

"How can you be _nearly_ headless?" I asked. A look of frustration came over his face, and I quickly added, "If it's not a bother."

"Of those who are a bit squeamish, I suggest you look away." Some of the students did, including Hugo. Nick grabbed his left ear and yanked on it. His head was pulled away to reveal the inside of his neck. Some of the students looked away in horror, while others' faces took on a green tint. He fixed his head, and with a slight bow, Nick flew off.

"I knew he was going to do that," said Hugo. His face was pale, and he didn't look good. "Dad told me all about him. He said he was sleeping, and someone came to cut his head off, but they did it wrong. So he isn't headless." While Lily explained that his dad was probably joking, I finished off my pudding before another ghost head could appear.

When everyone was finished eating, Professor McGonagall stood up to make an announcement. "There are many rules that all students must follow. The Forbidden Forest is off-limits to everyone, unless you are going to Professor Hagrid's class, or serving a detention. The caretaker, Mr. Filch, would like everyone to remember that pranks and spells should not be done in the halls. Now off to bed. Prefects, please lead your first years to the common rooms."

We all stood up, and the hall grew loud as benches were pushed back and friends said good-night to each. I followed Lily as she followed a girl who looked like a prefect. We left the hall and walked up a flight of stairs into a vast tower. I looked up and found that the staircases were . . . moving! It was so amazing that I stopped and someone crashed into me.

"Oops. I'm sorry." I said quickly. The girl who crashed into me looked up and snarled, "Yeah you better be. Next time watch where you're going." I stood there baffled as she picked herself up and stalked off. Lily had to come pull me so that I wouldn't get left behind.

We reached a picture that covered almost half of a wall. In it a fat lady was trying to break a glass. Now, I wasn't a music teacher, but I could tell that she had never had any lessons, and that I could probably sing better than her. Eventually she gave up and threw the glass against a wall. The prefect said "Loyalty", and the picture swung wide to reveal . . .

**I am going to end this chapter here. I need your opinion, reader. Should I have Harry, Ron, Hermione, or Draco teaching at Hogwarts? I will so need some creative last names for the other teachers. I will try to update soon, but it might not happen. In 2 weeks I will be leaving on a 3 week vacation to Utah. I'll write during that time, but won't be able to update at all. Oh, BTW, I will be changing my pen name to '****ultimatefreakofnature****'. I just don't really like the one I have now. Thanks!**


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